Safety-bar attachment for railway switches



Oct. 27, 1 2 1,559,403

E L. BREWER SAFETY BAR ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY SWITCHES Filed June 27,1925 ----r w I Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

1: LE 33mm, or nAL as, TEXAS.

'SAFE'IY BAR AITA HMEN r01: RAILWAY swrronns.

Application filed June, 27; 1925. Serial- No. 40,017.

To all whom it may concern." 'T

Be it known'that ECLEE BREWER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, "has inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Bar Attachments for iailway Switches, Of'VVhlClLthG following'is a specification, 7 I

This invention relates to an improvement HJ'in safety bar attachment forrailroad switches. i

' The object of the invention is to eliminate'a great number ofaccidents which occur due to what is commonly known as splitting aswitchlf This is caused by'the switchs failure toproperly 'seat"itselfin its extremep'osition whenit is thrown either open or closed, andsubsequently a train passing over theswitch -point'm'ay cause the latterto'he thrown into the oppositedir'c- "tion, thus causing 'a derailment"with often veryserious results. V

A further objectof my inventionis to I F ig; his a sideelevation of thesafety bar detached and 1 1 Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the same;

' T-he numeralsl and 2 indicate the main track rails'mounted on theusual cross ties 3." The switch points 4 and 5 ofthe switch'areintendedto' be 'moved against the sides of; the main rails liand 2forguiding the "traineither over the main track, provided byfthe rails 1and 2,-andthe switch point' '5 or when the switch isthrown into the"opposite-open position, the train is guided over the rails 1 and 2 andswitch point 4,

for being directed-on to the side track or another inain track. Theusual hand switch throw-is shown in-the drawings-hut it is obviousthatthe device wouldwork just as successfully with an automatic mechanismfor throwing the switch. The hand oper "ated throw, shown in thedrawings, includes the bar 6 which is secured toeach of the swit'chpoints 4 and 5 and it has the link provide a simple and easily installedsafety 95 bar which may be easily and quickly attached to the switchpoint or points 'and when so attached it shall be automatic in naturecarrying the wheels of the train into alignment with and over the pointsof the switch even though they are not properly set.

With these objects in View, my invention' consists in a bar which isattached to one Y or more switch points and which seats it- 35 self,when the switch is closed, partly under the head of the rail but whenthe switch is entirely open it is spaced apart from the so that thisswitch 'siredi';

7 pivoted thereto. said link being connected with theusual hand operatedturn table 8,

may be thrown as de My' safety "barattachment includes the 'bar'9secured by means of the-bolts 10 to the switch point 5 and this bar ismade to closely fit about the end of this switch point .5. Forthispurpose, the bar is provided with a sloping top surface 11 for fittingunder' the head 12 of the switch point 5 and a shoulder 13 is formed onthe bar 9 intermediate the ends thereof for being .fitted against theend of the switch point 5.

rail so as to allow the free passage of the trains through the switch.However, when 40 the switch has been thrown only partly closed, ashoulder on this safety bar will engage the wheels of the train andguide them into alignment with the switch point, so that the train willproperly pass over 45 the switch and will automatically move the switchpoints into their proper positions, causing an automatic closing of theswitch.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a plan view of my safety bar 50applied to a closed switch;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a partly open switch;

I Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the switch and safety bar, inthe position '55 shown in Fig. 1;

The flange 14 is formed on the outer edge of the bar 9 and extendsupwardly sufliciently to be engaged by the circumferential flange on'thetrain wheels but is low enough to be seated under the head of the rail2. This flange 14 is provided with a diagonal inner surface 15 whichextends from near the outer corner of the bar 9 to a point in alignmentwith the inner side of the switch point 5, so as to guide the trainwheels around the switch point 5 and'through the switch.

When the switch is entirely closed, as shown in Fig. l, the safety baris seated properly under the head of the rail 2 so as to permit thetrains to pass over the main track unobstructed, and when the switchsurface of the rail 2, so that the flanges on the train wheels will beproperly guided over the main track. However, when the switch has beenaccidentally or inadvertently left only partly closed, as shown in Fig.2, there will be a slight space between the point 5 and the rail 2,which would ordinarily or at least sometimes allow the flange of thetrain to slip into this space between the switch point and the rail 2,and to throw the switch in the opposite direction, causing possiblederailment ofthe train or perhaps a wreck.

My invention obviates this objection by having the bar 9 attached to theend of the switch point 5 so that when the switch is in a partly closedposition, shown in Fig, 2,

the diagonal side 15 of the flange 14: will engage the flanges of thetrain wheelsiguiding the same to and over the switch point 5 causing theswitch to be properly closed and eliminating any possibility ofderailment. lVhen the switch is in its open position not shown in thedrawings, it is obvious that the safety bar 9 will be out of the path ofthe train wheels and their flanges and thus permit the train to passunobstructed on to the side track and over the rails 1 and 2 and theswitch point 4.

Thus, it will be seen that I have constructed a safety bar attachmentfor railway switch which will cause the point of the switch to beproperly closed if they should be only partly thrown and this seating ofthese movable points will be maintained until subsequent manualoperations.

Although I have shown my safety bar attachment as applied to only theswitch .being only partly closed for directing said rolling stock overthe switch point.

2. The combination with a railway rail and a switch-rail operativelymounted relative to each other, of a safety-box attached to the saidswitch point in position to be seated under a portion of said rail, saidbar having a flange thereon provided with a diagonal inner surface inposition to be engaged by the rolling stock in the event of the switchbeing only partly closed for di-- recting said rolling stock over theswitch point.

3. A combination with railway rails and a switch having switch pointsand means for closing said switch, of a safety bar attached to one ofthe switch points in position to be seated under a portion of one of therails, said barhaving a flange thereon provided with a diagonal innersurface in position to be engaged by the railway rolling stock, when theswitch is partly closed for directing said rolling stock over the switchpoint, and automatically closing the switch.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

E LEE BREWER.

